Rajbari

Women of rural areas urged to take part in uplift works

Mar 2: State Minister for Cultural Affairs Prof Jahanara Begum recently called upon women to unite and organise themselves for ensuring a better social status for them, reports BSS;

’ Inaugurating a branch of the Association of Women Rights Implementation in Bangladesh (AWRIB) at Baliakandi in Rajbari the state minister said, women folk have a significant role to play in changing or Improving the socio-economic condition of the nation.

She said to achieve this target they have to be trained properly in Income generating projects. As a result, women of rural areas and the distressed could become self-reliant, she said.

The AWRIB is a non-governmental voluntary socio-cultural organisation, providing training and loan facilities to the distressed women for attaining self-sufficiency.

Prof Jahanara Begum also addressed a public meeting at Chardhunnchi in Rajbari recently organised by BNP.

Speaking on the occasion, she called upon the leaders and workers to gear up party activities at the grassroots level for materialising the 19-point programmes of Shaheed Zia to attain autarky on every sectors.

Kushtia

-Child labourers on rise

Mar 2: The number of child labourers among the floating people who come from rural areas to the town, is increasing. reports UNB.

Children who are expected to attend schools or madrashas or remain engaged in sports with their playmates are compelled to work in factories and mills for earning their livelihood.

Due to poverty these children are working in the hotels and restaurants as boys, in houses as servants, as rickshawpullers and as labourers in mills and factories, as porters in the rail stations, hats and bazars and as cowboys in the fields.

The labour they offer, does not fetch actual wage and there are statutory rates for wages and service rules. The meagre amount they earn can not satisfy their hunger. The •privileged people taking advantage of their poverty exploit them.

According to a survey conducted by some local Journalist*, about 5000 children, between the-age group of five and ten years engaged themselves In manual works to'eke out their living.

These children have no shelter in the town. They after the day's work, spend the night in the bus terminals, in front of the cinema halls and In open spaces.

Lalmonirhat

1243 mt of wheat given for 61 uplift projects

Mar 2: The government has sanctioned 1.243 metric tons of wheat worth about Tk one crore for execution of 61 development scheme* In five thanas of the district under Food fo* Works Programme (FWP) during the current dry season, an official handout said

Under the programme, construction and reconstruction of rural roads and em bankment and earth work is being done

Besides. Implementation of 19 projects with an allocation of 375 metric ton* of wheat is nearing completion In the district under po*t monsoon rehabilitation programme.

Chuadanga

2 Purba Bangla activists held

Mar 2: Police arrested two people from Katpara village of Alamdanga thana and recovered one pipe gun, five rounds of rifle bullets from their possession, reports UNB.

Acting on a secret information. police raided the village and arrested Amirul Islam Togor and Abu Boror. the alleged activists of Purba Bangla Communist Party.

A case has been filed with the local thana.

Faridpur

1237 tubewells to be installed

Mar 2: Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) has undertaken a scheme to install 1.237 tubewefis In five districts of Faridpur region to ensure supply of drinking water, reports UNB.'

The programme with the financial help from UNICEF. Saudi Arabia has been taken up specially to ensure pure water supply In rural areas of Faridpur, Shariatpur,' Madaripur. Gopalganj and Rajbari.

Official sources said, of the total 1237 tubewells. 175 are deep and 1062 are shallow tubewells and the scheme is • expected to be complete within June, this year.

According to official sources, of the total. 288 shaU low and 55 deep tubewells will be sunk in Faridpur. 200 shallow and 67 deep tubewells in Gopalganj. 203 shallow and 67 deep tubewells In Sarlatpur, 138 shallow and 53 deep tubewells in Madaripur and 233 shqjlow tubewells in Rajbari.

With the completion of the scheme about 1.85 lakh people will get benefit from supply of drinking water.

Pabna

Tk 7.92 crore uplift projects in progress

Mar 2: Works on 235 projects at a cost of Tk 7.92 crore in nipe thanas of the district are progressing fast, reports UNB.

According to Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) the projects include construction of one connecting road, three growth centres, reconstruction of government primary schools and repair and renovation of non-government primary and high schools.

These projects will be jointly financed by Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Bangladesh government, the sources added.

Kishoreganj

Female students face transport problem

Mar 2: Female students of the town and adjacent areas are facing serious problems to attend their classes in the absence of transport facilities, reports UNB.

There are three girls' high schools and one government ahd one non-government women's colleges in the town and over 3000 students are attending their classes regularly.

The students said, they are to go to their respective edu-. cational Institutions on foot crossing; a number of busy roads with risks.

The guardians are always kept in arutiety for the reckless driving of buses and trucks and innumerable rickshaws. Guardians complained that accidents are occurring in the busy roads due to reckless driving and violation of traffic rules, but the authorities took no step In this regard.

Besides, many female students who walk to. their respective Institutions are often teased by unruly and way ward youths, it Is alleged.